Raw Challenge Day 10, January 14, 2014

 

This morning I started out with a breakfast of awesome berries and oranges.  I had been having smoothies with bananas, oranges and berries.  However, I learned this week that it is really not good to mix bananas with acid fruits and berries.  They have very different water contents, which means that even when they are blended together they digest at different rates.  This can cause gas and discomfort.  After two days of being more careful about the food combinations I'm working with for breakfast, I have noticed a huge difference. Yay!

For lunch I enjoyed a monomeal of oranges.  I LOVE how amazing everything smells when you peel that many oranges at one time.  The kitchen at my office smells amazing and fresh. :)

For dinner, I had found a recipe for fully raw fettuccine Alfredo.  The only substitution I made was that I used raw butternut squash instead of making zucchini noodles.  This was merely because I had the butternut squash and have been interested to give it a try.

The noodles were very al dente, but apart from that, this was amazing!  I will be posting the recipe very soon!  I have always been a huge fan of tomatoes with a cream sauce, so when this recipe called for them I was in love. 

I have to admit that I did not stay fully raw today.  My husband barbecued chicken again, and I was not as strong as last week in resisting.  It was delicious, but I noticed that again, I felt dehydrated very quickly and my stomach does not feel well. 

So my lessons learned so far:

1. Monomeals are awesome and help me with reducing my cravings.

2. Keeping a close watch on the volume of nuts I use as meat substitutes is important for minimizing the fat I consume.

3. Proper food pairing is crucial for success!  And it miminizes discomfort.

4. I need more sleep than I had previously thought.

5. Water is essential and staying hydrated is a huge priority.

6. The more fruit I eat, the happier I am.  After years of being an emotional eater, it is amazing to eat to my fill and feel amazing instead of guilty. :)

7. Even though they aren't following me on this journey, my family has been making changes to their diets as well and are reeping the benefits.

8. Just because I allow myself to have a food that isn't fully raw, I am not a failure.  I am making a choice and then I get right back to eating fully raw.